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Transcript of LaSalle Draft Supplemental EIS, Public Meeting March 22, 2016, Pages 1-39
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Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONTitle:LaSalle County Station Draft Supplemental EISDocket Number:(n/a)Location:Ottawa, Illinois Date:Tuesday, March 22, 2016Work Order No.:NRC-2254Pages 1-39 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.

Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 2+ + + + +3 LaSALLE COUNTY STATION 4 DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL EIS (DSEIS) 5 PUBLIC MEETING 6+ + + + +7 TUESDAY 8 MARCH 22, 2016 9+ + + + +10 11 12 13 The Public Meeting was convened at the 14 LaSalle County Emergency Management Agency, Emergency 15 Operations Center, 711 East Etna Road, Ottawa, 16 Illinois at 7:00 p.m., David Drucker, Facilitator, 17 presiding.

18 19 PRESENT: 20 DAVID DRUCKER, Facilitator 21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 2 P R O C E E D I N G S 1 MR. DRUCKER: Good evening. Thanks for 2 coming out tonight. I'm David Drucker with the U.S.

3 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and I'm --

4 THE OPERATOR: Mr. Drucker, I have to join 5 you to the main conference. I'm sorry. One moment.

6 MR. DRUCKER: Sure.

7 THE OPERATOR: Welcome, and thank you for 8 standing by. At this time, all participants are on 9 listening mode. During our Q&A session, you may press 10*1 on your touch tone phone if you would like to ask 11 a question. Today's conference is being recorded. If 12 you have any objections, you may disconnect at this 13 time. Now I'd like to turn the meeting over to Mr.

14 David Drucker, so you may begin.

15 16 17 18 19 20MR. DRUCKER: Thank you, India. This isDavid Drucker. I'm Nuclear RegulatoryCo mmission. I'm project manager for th eenvironmental review of the LaSalle County Stationlicense renewal application. Hereafter, I will referto the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the NRC.

21 There are two primary purposes for this 22 meeting. The first purpose is to discuss the contents 23 of this document that I'm holding up, the draft 24 supplemental environmental impact statement for 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 3 license renewal of LaSalle County Station. Hereafter, 1 I will refer to this document as the draft SEIS. SEIS 2 stands for Supplemental Environmental Impact 3 Statement.

4 The second purpose of this meeting is to 5 obtain comments on the draft SEIS. This meeting is 6 available by teleconference and, India, I just want to 7 make sure. Can you ask the folks on the line, or 8 actually, folks on the line, can you hear me? Because 9 I'm speaking at a distance from the speakerphone.

10 THE OPERATOR: Everyone, your lines are 11 now open, and you can respond.

12 13 MR. MAHR S: David, this is SteveMah r s, and I can hear you just fine.

14 15 16 17 18 19MR. DRUCKER: Okay. Good, if one personcan hear me, the rest of you all can hear me.

Before going further, I want to introduce NRC staffhere tonight. St u Sheldon is an NRC Region IIIlic e nse renewal inspector, and Robert Ruiz is thesenior resident at the plant.

20 21 22 23 24I'd also like to point out that on thephone we have or will have a few NRC staff folks. Mysupervisor, Jim Danna is the chief of theenvironmental review and project management branch.

Michele Moser is the technica l r eviewer for aquatic 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 4 resources.

1 2 3

4 5Kevin is the technical reviewer forservice water resources. Bill Ford is the technicalreviewer for ground water. And you hear earlier SteveMaharris is the consultant from Pacific NorthwestLaboratories for the high burn-up fuel section.

6 Next, I'd like to cover a few details 7 about this meeting. Exelon applied to the NRC to 8 renew the operating licenses for LaSalle County 9 Station units one and two for an additional 20 years.

10 The NRC is reviewing that application, and will use 11 the results of that review to decide whether to renew 12 the licenses.

13 Tonight I will tell you the preliminary 14 results of the environmental review. These results 15 are documented in the draft SEIS. And I will also ask 16 for your comments on the draft SEIS. The meeting 17 tonight will, essentially, have four parts. The 18 introduction is the part that we're doing now.

19 20 21 22 23he second part I will discuss the reviewprocess and the p r eliminary findings of the review. Copies of this presentation are on the table by thedoor and Stu Sheldon, it looks like he handed outcopies to everyone here.

24 The next portion will be an opportunity to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 5 ask questions about the material presented, and I will 1answer those questions. And finally, the NRC staff 2 will listen to your comments about the draft SEIS.

3Note that the NRC will listen during this time. We 4 generally won't respond to what you're saying here in 5the meeting. Instead, we will prepare written 6 responses to your comments that will be published as 7 a part of the final SEIS.

8 Please note that this meeting is being 9 recorded,; a transcriber's sitting right up here in 10front. And he's doing that to produce a written 11 record of what's said at this meeting. In order for 12 the transcript to be accurate, please comply with the 13 following.

14 First, please silence your phones and any 15other personal electronics you have with you. If you 16 must accept a call during this meeting, please step 17outside into the lobby so the other meeting 18 participants can hear the proceedings and so your 19 phone ringing, nor your conversation is recorded.

20 When you speak, please use a microphone.

21 And I'll bring it around for the question and answer 22period to you guys. That's how we will ensure that 23what you say is recorded. When you speak, identify 24 who you are and, if you represent a group, what group 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 6 you represent. Also, if you have an uncommon name or 1 if your name has an unusual spelling, please spell 2 your name. And to ensure the recording is clear, 3 please don't hold side conversations, and do not 4 interrupt the speaker. Thank you.

5 6 7

8 9 10 When you signed in tonight, you may havenot ed yellow cards, like the one I'm holding up, o nthe table. Several of you have al readyfilled them out, and that's a speaker. So if youwant to spe a k, l et m e kn o w. I'll bring a cardaround to you, and you can fill that out now.

11 When we get to the public comment portion 12 of this evening, I will give each public commenter 13 three minutes to speak. And then, after everyone's 14 had a chance to speak, we can, if you haven't finished 15 your comments, you can certainly have more time. So 16 far I only have four folks who are signed up to speak.

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Also on the table outside is a stack ofpublic meeting feedback forms. Please fill one outand provide it to me or leave it on the table, or youcan drop it in the mail; it's postage free. ou r a s s essment of this meeting tonight will helpimprove future meetings.

24 And finally, for those who don't know, the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 7 restrooms are out the hallway to the left. Emergency 1 exit is out the hallway to the right. And security is 2 located at the LaSalle County Sheriff's Office. It's 3 just across the parking lot, if we should need 4 security.

5 6 7

8 Okay, do you h ave any ques tions on thisbrief introduction before I go any further, and startdiscussing the environmental review? . 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17I'm going to theenvironmental review and preliminary results from thedraft SEIS. First, I would like to emphasize that theenvironmental review is not yet complete. I hope theinformation provided in this presentation will helpyou understand what we've done so far, and the roleyou can play in helping to make sure that the finalenvironmental impact statement is accurate andcomplete.18 I'd like to start off by briefly going 19 over the agenda for this portion of my speech. First 20 of all, I'll comment on the NRC's regulatory role, 21 then I'll provide the preliminary findings of our 22 environmental review, and then I will present the 23 current schedule for the remainder of the 24 environmental review, and tell you how you can submit 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 8 comments outside of this meeting.

1 At the end of the presentation, there will 2 be time for questions and answers on the comments of 3 my briefing and, most importantly, time for you to 4 present your comments on the draft SEIS.

5 The NRC was established to regulate 6 civilian use of nuclear materials, including 7 facilities producing electric power. The NRC conducts 8 license renewal reviews for plants whose owners wish 9 to operate them beyond their initial license period.

10 11 NRC license renewal reviews address safety 12 issues related to managing the affects of aging and 13 environmental issues related to an additional 20 years 14 of operation. In all aspects of the NRC regulation, 15 our mission is thre e-fold. To ensure adequate 16 protection of the public health and safety, to promote 17 common defense and security, and to protect the 18 environment.

19 20 21 22 23 24 environmental review potential site-specific impacts of license renewal ofthe LaSalle County Stations nits and . Ageneric environmental impact statement, or GEIS,examines the possible environmental impacts that couldoccur as a result of renewing licens es of individual 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 9 nuclear power plants.

1 2 3

4 5

6The GEIS es thesignificance of these potential impacts. The analysisin the GEIS pertains to operating power reactors. Fore ach type or environmental impact, the GEISestablishes generic findings, covering as many plantsas possible.

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 For some environmental issues, the GEISfound that a generic evaluation was not sufficient,and that a plan t-specific analysis was required. he 2013 revision to the GEIS issitting here on the table; these three vo lumes. TheGEIS was originally done in 1996. Its r thanthese three volumes, and t here was an addendum in 14 1999.15 16 17 18 19 gives you an idea of the effortthat went in to looking nuclear power plants ac rossthe country, and determining which impacts,environmental impacts were generic, and which requiresite-specific analysis.

20 The site-specific findings for the LaSalle 21 County Station are contained in the draft SEIS 22 published in February, 2016. This document contains 23 analyses of all possible site-specific issues, as well 24 as a review of issues covered by the GEIS, to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 1 10determine whether the conclusion in the GEIS are validfor LaSalle County Station.

2 3 4

5 6

7 In this process, t h e NRC staff alsoreviews environmental impacts of potential powergeneration alternatives to license renewal.

Finally,I want to mention that on March 10th of las t year,March 10th of last year, I was here conduct in g theenvironmental scoping meetings.

8 9 10 11 12During those meetings and the scopingperiod, the NRC coll ected comments formed t h esc ope of t he environmental review. Those com m en t s,and the NRC responses to those comments, are found inthe scoping summary report.

13 14 15 16 17 Hard copies and CDs of the scoping summaryrep ort are available on the t a ble by the door. Andalso, that same CD that has the scoping summary reportcontains a copy of the draft SEIS.

18 19 20 21 22 23 24For each environmental issue identified animp act level is assigned. The NRC's standard sig n if i cance for impacts was established using theWhite House counsel on environmental qualityterminology for signi f i cant. The NRC establ ishedthr e e levels of significance for p otential impacts,small, moderate and large, as defined on the slide.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 11 For a small impact, the effects are not 1 detectible or are so minor that they will neither 2 destabilize nor noticeable alter any important 3attribute of the resource. For a moderate impact, the 4 effects are sufficient to alter noticeably, but not 5destabilize important attributes of the resource. And 6 for a large impact, the effects are clearly noticeable 7and are sufficient to destabilize important 8 attributes of the resource.

9 While these impact level designations are 10 used for most of the resource areas that we looked at 11 in the draft SEIS, there are three areas that have 12 their own impact level designations. And these are 13 discussed on the next slide.

14 So for special status species, the impact 15 significance determination language comes from the 16Endangered Species Act. And choices to describe the 17 impacts are no effect, may affect but not likely to 18adversely affect, and may affect and is likely to 19 adversely affect.

20 For cultural and historic resources, the 21 National Historic Preservation Act requires Federal 22 agencies to consider the effects of their undertakings 23on historic properties. And for environmental 24 justice, under Executive Order 12898, Federal agencies 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 12 are responsible for identifying and addressing 1 disproportionately high and adverse human health and 2 environmental impacts on minority and low-income 3 populations.

4This slide lists the issues the NRC 5 reviewed for the continued operation of the LaSalle 6 County Station during the proposed license renewal 7period. So in this one slide, this is basically a 8 very quick summary of what you would find in that 9 larger document, the draft SEIS.

10 For all issues, except aquatic resources, 11 the impacts of license renewal were found to be small, 12 which means the effects are not detectible, or are so 13 minor that they will neither destabilize nor 14 noticeably alter any important attribute of the 15 resource.16 Thermal impacts would be small for aquatic 17 resources in the Illinois River, and small for aquatic 18 resources in the cooling pond, except for gizzard and 19threadfin shad. Gizzard and threadfin shad would 20 experience moderate thermal impacts in the cooling 21 pond. 22 The NRC staff also considered cumulative 23impacts. Cumulative impacts are the effects on the 24 environment from other past, present and reasonably 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 13 foreseeable future human actions, other than LaSalle 1County Station. The effects not only included 2 operation of LaSalle County Station, but also impacts 3 unrelated to LaSalle, such as future urbanization, 4other energy producing facilities in the area and 5 climate change.

6 The analysis considers potential impacts 7 through the end of the current license term, as well 8as the 20-year license renewal term. The NRC staff 9 determined that most cumulative impacts would be 10 small, and the analysis is provided in section 4.16 of 11 the draft SEIS.

12The National Environmental Policy Act 13 mandates that each environmental impact statement 14 consider alternatives to any proposed major Federal 15action. A major step for determining whether license 16renewal is reasonable or not is comparing the likely 17 impacts of continued operation of a nuclear plant with 18 the likely impacts of alternatives means of power 19 generation.

20 Alternatives must provide an option that 21 allows for power generation capability beyond the term 22 of the current nuclear power plant operating license 23to meet future system generation needs. In the draft 24 SEIS, NRC staff initially considered 17 different 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 14 alternatives, and then we narrowed those 17 down to 1 five, and looked at those five in detail.

2Additionally, the NRC staff considered 3 what would happen if no action is taken and LaSalle 4 shuts down at the end of its current licenses without 5a specific replacement alternative. This alternative 6 would not provide power generation capacity nor would 7 it meet the needs currently met by LaSalle.

8 The NRC's preliminary conclusion is that 9 the environmental impacts of renewal of the operating 10 licenses for LaSalle would be smaller than those 11 feasible and commercially viable alternatives.

12 Continued operation would have smaller environmental 13impacts in almost all areas. The staff concluded that 14continued operation of the existing LaSalle County 15 Station is the environmentally preferred alternative.

16 17 Based on review of likely environmental 18 impacts from license renewal, as well as potential 19 environmental impacts of alternatives to license 20 renewal, the NRC staff's preliminary recommendation in 21 the draft SEIS is that the adverse environmental 22 impacts of license renewal for LaSalle County Station 23 are not great enough to deny the option of license 24renewal for energy planning decision makers. And that 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 15 preliminary conclusion shows up several places in the 1 draft SEIS, but chapter five is the conclusion 2 chapter.

3 I would like to re-emphasize that the 4 environmental review is not yet complete. Your 5 comments tonight, and all written comments received by 6 the end of the comment period on April 4th, will be 7 considered by the NRC staff as we develop the final 8 SEIS, which we currently plan to issue in August of 9 2016.10 Those comments that are within the scope 11 of the environmental review and provide new and 12 significant information can help change the staff's 13 findings. The final SEIS will contain the staff's 14 final recommendation on the acceptability of license 15 renewal based on the work we've already performed and 16 any new and significant information we receive in the 17 form of comments during the comment period. I just 18 want to emphasize that the comment period closes on 19 April 4th, the second to the last line here on this 20 slide. 21 22 23 24As many of you know, I am primarycon ta ct for the environmental review, and JeffMitchell is the primary contact for the safety review,and our information is on the handouts that I provided 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 16 you tonight, our contact information. Copies of the 1 draft SEIS are available on CD on the table near the 2 door. In addition, the library shown on this slide 3 has a copy available, current copy available for 4 review.5 You can also find electronic copies of the 6 draft SEIS, along with other information about the 7 LaSalle County Station license renewal review online 8 at the website shown. And finally, additional 9 information can also be obtained by contacting the 10 representatives of NRC's Region III office of public 11 affairs, as shown on the slide.

12 NRC staff will address written comments in 13 the same way we address spoken comments received 14 today. You can submit written comments either online 15 or via conventional manner. To submit written 16 comments online, visit the website regulations.gov and 17 search for docket ID NRC-2014-0268. If you have 18 written comments today, you may give them to me or any 19 other member of the NRC staff.

20 Please note that if you provide verbal 21 comments tonight, you don't need to submit them in 22 writing since your verbal comments are part of the 23 transcribed record, and they will be responded to. So 24 this concludes my formal presentation.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 17 1 2 3

4 5So n o w w e enter the question and answerportion. his is distinct from the c o mment portion. questions specific to the material that Ipr esented here tonight. perator?6 THE OPERATOR: Yes.

7 MR. DRUCKER: If there's anyone on the 8 phone that has questions about the material I 9 presented, can you please go ahead and let them ask 10 their questions one at a time, and I'll do my best to 11 answer them.

12 THE OPERATOR: Certainly. If you would 13 like to as a question on the phone line, please press 14*1 and record your name when prompted. Please make 15 sure your phone is not muted when you r ecord your 16 name. Once again, that's *1 and record your name.

17 One moment for our first question. And no questions 18 have come in.

19 20 21 22 23 24MR. DRUCKER: Okay , thank y ou. Most of the folks here in the room have been apart of the license renewal process. They're familiarwith the scoping process we did last year. But I justwant to emphasize, for anyone who's listening, thaty o u k now, th is i s n o t a h e ar i ng. T hi s i s a publ i c 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 18 meeting.

1 2 3

4 5

6 And th e goal of this meeting is two-waycommunication; for me to provide information about theenvironmental impact statement that we've been workingon and have developed, and then to receive comment onthat document. So . 7 With that, I'm going to go to questions.

8 Does anyone have any questions about the material I 9 presented here in the room? If there are no 10 questions, I just want to --

11 12 13 MS. SNYDER: I have a question.

MR. DRUCKER: Gail, go ahead.

MS. SNYDER: My first question is you said 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 this is a public meeting.

There's not re ally manymembers of the public here, so I'm just wondering whatdoe s t he N RC do t o pr omote this? I find it hard tobelieve in an area where th e re's thousands of peoplewho co u ld be impacted by this decision that nobody'ss hown up, no elected officials, unless there'ssomething here I don't know about.

I'm justwondering, you know, why there's such a poor turnout.MR. DRUCKER:

G question. Certainly, certainly, let me answer tha t first; your first partof the question was ho w do we advertise, b asica lly, 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 1 2 3 19this public. This meeting is advertised through manymeans. he first place that it's advertised is we putout a Federal Register notice, NRC does, a nnouncingthe meeting.

4 5 6

7 8

9And then the Enviro nmental ProtectionAgency, it a F e deral Register n otice th atannounces the release of the draft SEIS, and then howt o con t a ct me if you're interested in learning moreabout that. So there's two Federal R egister noticesthat go out.

10 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's 11 website also has actually several places where we talk 12 about the meeting. We have a public meeting web page 13 that speaks to all the meetings that we have. We have 14 a license renewal web page that talks about this 15 meeting. There's also the regular LaSalle operating 16 license web page, which also points to my license 17 renewal web page. So there's those web pages.

18 19 20 21 22 23 We also have advertisements in localnewspapers. I can get those for you if you'reinterested. But we did advertise in the localnewspapers, announcing thi s meeting. I also reachedout to everyone who attended the scoping meetings lastyear through e-mail. 24 I either sent them a hard copy of the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 20 draft SEIS, along with a copy of the Federal Register 1 notice, which provided the information on when and 2 where this meeting would be held. Either hard copy, 3 or I provided them a CD of the draft SEIS.

4 Off the top of my head, I actually used to 5 carry a list of all different ways that we advertised 6 the meetings; off the top of my head, that's how we do 7 it. There were e-mails, too. For example, e-mail 8 reminders I sent out to the EPA via Region V folks so 9 they may be on the phone tonight.

10 11 12 13 14 15 So those are the basic ways. If I missedanything, and my boss is listening feel free to chimein, Jim, and let me know what I missed. But those arethe major ways. Oh, a; the fliers. Iask ed the resident inspector to post fliers locall yaround. 16 Good question and, yeah, sometimes we get 17 a big turnout at these meetings, and sometimes we 18 don't. Personally, I was at one down in Mississippi, 19 Grand Gulf. There were a few flakes of snow, and the 20 Governor basically told everyone to stay in. And I 21 flew own with my boss at the time, and we had no 22 trouble. There was no snow on the roads; didn't 23 understand what the problem was.

But it was a local 24 thing. 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 21 I was paying attention to the news this 1 morning, and I heard the terrible, terrible news of 2 what was going on in Belgium, but I doubt that that 3 somehow would impact people showing up here. I did 4 read the local paper to see there were a couple other 5 meetings.

6 7 8

9 10 11 12 There was a board of education meeting inone of the schools, but I didn't think it would impactattendance at t his meeting.

And I did work with thefol k s at the plant, and I work e d with our residentinspector trying to pick a night that wasn't busy withother activities. elected official 13 14: Yes, I'm a member of theLaSalle County board.

15 16 MR. DRUCKER: : Chair of legislative 17 rules. 18 19 20 MR. DRUCKER: Great.

County board member.MR. DRUCKER: Good questi o n. A n y o t her 21 questions from folks in the room?

22 MS. SNYDER: I have more questions.

23 MR. DRUCKER: Please.

24 MS. SNYDER: Slide number 10, which is 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 22 titled environmental review of LaSalle County Station 1 has the resources areas and the impacts listed. On 2 the bottom it says waste management, and the impact is 3 small. And I'm just wondering can you define what 4 waste management is in this?

5 6 7

8 9 10 11 MR. DR UCKER: Yes, that's a greatquestion. A n d there's a section on wastemanagement. . ear with me just for a moment, and I will flip toit. It's section 4. --

12 MS. SNYDER: Does it refer to nuclear 13 waste, or is it waste from the plant, other than?

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 MR. DR U C KER: the spent fuel. l ow level waste storage and d isposal,. So this is the section that doescover the spent nuclear fuel.

21 22 23 24So the r e's five s thatare looked at. 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 23 talked about

.1 MS. SNYDER: And when you say the impact 2 is small, do you mean that it's small in comparison to 3 what's already there, or that 20 years of additional 4 waste will have a small impact?

5 MR. DRUCKER: Yeah, this is, this section 6 is talking to 20 years of additional operation.

7 MS. SNYDER: The small impact.

8 MR. DRUCKER: Yes.

9 MS. SNYDER: I have another question.

10 MR. DRUCKER: Please.

11 MS. SNYDER: I don't want to hog the 12 questions. Slide number 12, alternatives; and you're 13 talking about citing alternatives and the criteria 14 required to replace the energy. If you nuclear plant 15 had shut down, you said somethi ng about what would 16 happen if the nuclear plant shut down, and you found 17 that there wouldn't be an alternative power source 18 that would replace that power.

19 And I was just wondering if you had, or 20 the committee had, whoever drafted this, whatever 21 group drafted it had looked at the report from the 22 State of Illinois? There were a number of agencies; 23 there was a bill, HR, a resolution, HR1146, which was 24 looking at nuclear power in the state.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 24 And state agencies drafted a report, and 1 they came out with the opposite finding of what you're 2 saying. So maybe we will e-mail that r eport to you.

3 I think that would be informative to what their 4 position is, is not the same as your conclusion.

5 MR. DRUCKER:

.6 MS. SNYDER: And that's a state study by 7 state agencies.

8 MR. DRUCKER: All right. I appreciate 9 that very much. Thanks, Gail. Okay, if there are no 10 other questions, then we're going to move right along 11 to the comment portion of tonight's meeting. And as 12 I stated at the beginning, primarily the NRC staff 13 will be listening, and we will respond to any comments 14 in written form in the final SEIS.

15 So let me go to the operator.

India, is 16 there anyone on the phone that wants to provide a 17 comment?18 THE OPERATOR: If you do have comments, 19 please press *1 and record your name when prompted.

20 Once again, that's *1 -- and no comments have come in 21 over the phone.

22 MR. DRUCKER: Thank you. Thank you, very 23 much.24 THE OPERATOR: You're welcome.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 25 1 2 3

4 5 MR. DR U CKER: Okay, I have yellow cardsfrom three, from four folks. I'll shuffle them andpull them out randomly. I matter. I would appreciate, would the speakers comeup to the front here, and you can use this microphone.

Gail, are you available first?

6 MS. SNYDER: Sure.

7 MR. DRUCKER: And the next speaker will be 8 Doug O'Brien, so Doug if you want to prepare yourself 9 and move up to the front to save some time. In fact, 10 there's only four of you. It'll be Gail, Doug, Steve 11 and Tom.12 MS. SNYDER: I don't know if this makes 13 your life easier.

14 AUDIENCE MEMBER: Oh great, thank you.

15 MS. SNYDER: Good evening. My name is 16 Gail Snyder, and I'm here representing Nuclear Energy 17 Information Service. I serve as the president of the 18 board. Our comments tonight are really directed, 19 maybe, not specifically at environmental issues, but 20 the licensing renewal.

21 And one of our first comments is that the 22 analysis of socioeconomic impacts are incomplete. No 23 analysis of impacts for early or unexpected closures 24 were considered or provided.

The Exelon safety 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

(202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 (202) 234-4433 26 evaluation report documents a significant tax impact 1for the presence of the LaSalle County Station, yet 2 only addresses the positive impacts.

3 No mention or analysis of negative impacts 4resulting from a abrupt planned or unexpected early 5closure of LaSalle is presented. This is a 6 significant omission, particularly in light of Exelon 7 Corporation's threat of two years ago to close 8 reactors in Illinois on economic grounds.

9 According to the Exelon SER, LaSalle 10 represents a sizeable portion of the county total tax 11base. It also accounts for large portions of the 12school district's adjusted property tax levy. These 13are not insignificant amounts. Their abrupt 14 disappearance would wreak economic havoc on the 15 affected governmental and essential service entities' 16 ability to operate, just as Exelon's predecessor, 17 ComEd, did to the community of Zion in 1997, when they 18 unilaterally closed the Zion reactors.

19 The SER either fails to recognize or 20 mention at all some of the possible events that could 21 result in such a closure situation, such as an 22 unexpected major accident resulting in immediate and, 23 presumably, premature closing, NRC-ordered shutdown, 24 Exelon unilateral decision to c lose the plant on 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 27 economic or other grounds, as it did in Zion, 1 resulting in an immediate loss of about 55 percent of 2 Zion's tax base.

3 Devaluation through sale has occurred at 4 the Clinton Station, resulting in enormous loss of the 5 tax base, eventual old age, license expiration 6 closure, which is the outcome of

-- and I would add, 7 in light of what's happening in Brussels today, and 8 the fact that they've shut down their nuclear reactors 9 and can't provide security, terrorism is also a 10 possible way that a nuclear reactor could shut down 11 unexpectedly.

12 Exelon's being a business will certainly 13 make the calculations it made when it closed Zion and 14 decided that LaSalle should continue to operate. In 15 this omission, the SER makes the same mistake the U.S.

16 Government made when it invaded Iraq. No exit 17 strategy. To simply assume that the only 18 socioeconomic effects of LaSalle's presence will be 19 positive ones is simply irrational.

20 Our recommendation: Planning for some 21 kind of eventual cl osure must be made long before it 22 happens to minimize economic and service disruptions 23 to the entities whose tax bases will be affected.

24 Debate about the license extension serves as a good 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 28reminder of this fact, and an opportunity to take 1 action. 2 We recommend that dependent government and 3 tax entities begin formal negotiations with Exelon to 4 establish an escrow of mitigation funds based on some 5 mutually agreeable assessment and payment structure so 6 that dependent entities will have some kind of 7 temporary funds available to soften the economic blow 8or closure and not radically disrupt essential 9 services.10 Our second comment, which is shorter, is 11 the inadequate attention paid to water availability at 12 the LaSalle Nuclear Power Plant under potential future 13climate disruption conditions. Historically, LaSalle 14Nuclear Power Plant has been one of the Illinois 15 reactor sites most sensitive to water availability 16under severe drought conditions; for example, 1998, 17 2005, 2006.

18 It's siting on a portion of the Illinois 19 River network that is shallower than other parts has 20 brought the reactors close to mandatory shutdowns to 21stay within EPA regulatory limits for thermal 22pollution during extreme droughts on more than one 23 occasion over the past two decades.

24 Forecast for the future of Illinois's 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 29 climate over the next few decades indicate it 1approaching that of current day west Texas. This will 2 have severe impacts on the aquatic system in the area, 3 and on the a vailability of water for intake and 4 discharge at LaSalle.

5 A more thorough re-examination of 6 LaSalle's ability to safely operate, obtain sufficient 7 cooling water, and not thermally and radiologically 8 damage the local aquatic ecosystem is in order in this 9 re-licensing proceeding. Thank you.

10MR. DRUCKER: The next speaker is Doug 11 O'Brien from the Illinois Clean Energy Coalition.

12MR. O'BRIEN: Thank you. My name is Doug 13O'Brien. I'm with the Illinois Clean Energy 14 Coalition, and this is another one in a long number of 15these hearings or events that I've been to, talking 16 about a lot of the positive impacts that Illinois's 17 nuclear generating stations have had on the economy.

18 19 It's ironic that I'm following somebody 20 who came up and posited these impacts, these 21 beneficial impacts and somehow turned them into a 22negative. And I think that it's also a little bit 23 insulting to the intelligence of local officials here 24 and around Illinois to assume that they don't have the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 30sense to plan for the future. And I know that many 1 local governments do just that. They do it 2 vigilantly, and they do it effectively.

3 But I wanted to talk a little bit about 4 the environmental impacts, the positive environmental 5impacts of the plant. As the initial NRC reports 6 shows, the overall impacts when it comes to energy 7generation are positive. That the alternative sources 8 for energy generation in Illinois would create more 9 negative impacts environmentally, particularly in the 10 area of CO2 emissions, as it's critically important 11 that we always consider the beneficial impact of 12 Illinois's nuclear fleet on CO2 emissions here in 13 Illinois.

14 The Illinois Clean Energy Coalition's 15 study in 2014 showed that Illinois's nuclear fleet 16 prevents the emission of over 92 million tons of CO2 17annually. Now this is a significant contributor to 18 global climate change, and something that we can do in 19 preserving and protecting our nuclear fleet that will 20 have a real, immediate, ongoing positive impact on our 21 environment.

22Now, other sources of clean energy are 23vital to our future, as well. But the simple truth is 24 we cannot quickly or easily replace nuclear generation 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 31with other clean sources. And a nuclear plant like 1 LaSalle would require, for example, thousands of new 2wind turbines to replace its electricity generation.

3 4 And we still can't rely on wind 24/7, nor 5 on solar 24/7.

And the process of siting these wind 6 farms, the capital and the permitting that is needed 7to begin operating them is daunting. So losing any of 8 Illinois's nuclear plants would leave us with no 9 short-term alternative but to increase our use of 10 fossil fuels and move us in the wrong direction.

11 Additionally, I think it's important to 12 note that it's vital for the NRC and our national 13 government to continue to push forward with practical 14 waste storage solutions that will allow for the 15 continued safe and secure storage of spent fuel, while 16 we wait for the Federal government to put aside 17 politics and live up to the commitment it made years 18 ago to establish a nationwide solution for spent fuel 19 storage.20 In the meantime, plants like LaSalle's 21 spent fuel is expertly handled, never having produced 22any impact to the surrounding ecosystem. And while 23 the plants and the NRC have managed a laudable short-24 term solution, we have to continue to push for the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 32 permanent solution promised by our government.

1So I think, in conclusion, the Illinois 2 Clean Energy Coalition applauds the NRC and its 3findings. We be lieve that it's accurate in showing 4 the LaSalle Station, like other stations across the 5 state, has a positive impact on the environment moving 6 forward here in Illinois. Thank you.

7 MR. DRUCKER: Steve Buck is next.

8MR. BUCK: Good evening. I'm Steve Buck.

9 I'm an engineer at LaSalle Station. I just recently 10started back in August. I am a resident of Ottawa, 11 Illinois, and I'm a former Eagle Scout, originally 12from Crystal Lake, Illinois. So environmental 13 stewardship is something that is very much a part of 14 my character. It's something that I developed early 15 on in my youth, and I still continue it to this day as 16 an adult.17 I'd like to share a couple key points of 18 how LaSalle Station is trying to be an environmental 19 steward itself through our activities to help conserve 20 the environment and leave the environment at least in 21 the best, the same condition, if not better condition 22 than we came in.

23 We had recently installed, last year, a 24 couple of charging stations for electrical vehicles.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 33 So there's four charging ports available, which saved 1 about 1,300 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions for any 2 of our workers who chose to use their electric 3 vehicles instead of a carbon-producing combustion 4 engine vehicle.

5We have an annual station earth day 6activity every year. Some of those include electronic 7 waste recycling programs where we collect electronic 8waste. And we typically give out green gifts to those 9 who participate to bring in their electronics for 10 recycling as a thank you for looking out for that so 11that we don't throw electronics just simply into 12 landfills.

13 There's been a big push for LED lighting 14upgrades, both inside the plant and outside, most 15noticeably in the parking lot. The LED lights were 16replaced. They should last about seven to 10 years 17 out in the conditions outside in the parking lot.

18And we're noticing that there's reduced electricity 19usage for those, longer life span, and we've been 20 doing studies at other places i nside the plant where 21 we can utilize LED lighting.

22 We are members of the Wildlife Habitat 23Council certification. We have achieved 24 re-certification last year for our efforts. We have 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 34 many projects around the site, such as bat boxes, Uber 1 boxes, and activities with the fish hatchery in the 2 lake. 3Our North American Young Generation 4 Nuclear, it's a youth group primarily of those who are 5 new to the nu clear industry, which I am a site 6director at LaSalle Station; we have an 7 adopt-a-highway program for about a two-mile stretch 8near the facility. And during the summer months, the 9 warmer months, we do a highway clean-up where we go 10 both sides of the highway, and just pick up any trash, 11 litter that might be on the side of the road.

12 We have a Gabby Green educational program 13 that goes out to our elementary schools. We discuss 14energy conservation, resource conservation. We talk 15 about limited use of our water in certain situations, 16turning the lights off when we go to the rooms. Some 17 very simple concepts for young children to understand 18 so that they can be environmental conscious starting 19 at a young age.

20 We are starting to develop a program with 21Boy Scouts of America. As I said, I'm a Boy Scout, 22 and this is something that's just starting to develop 23in the last month. Developing programs with the Boy 24 Scouts to help encourage them with their environmental 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 35 practices, some of their merit badges and their rank 1 advancements and helping them live up to that 2 environmental stewardship themselves.

3 We also are firm supporters of the Who 4 Haven, which is wildlife rehabilitation center, 5 primarily for birds of prey, where we collect food for 6 those animals and also participate in bird releases, 7 releasing them back into the environment.

8MR. DRUCKER: Thanks. The final speaker 9 from the cards, where's Tom, Tom Jackson?

10MR. JACKSON: Good evening. My name's Tom 11Jackson. I'm site superintendent at Illini State 12 Park, Marseilles fish and wildlife area in LaSalle.

13 I work for the Department of Natural Resources, and 14 the IDNR currently has a lease through 2025 with 15 Exelon to manage the wildlife area and the fishing 16 opportunities.

17 LaSalle Lake is a fish and wildlife area, 18 along with a public fishing area. We're open to the 19 public from March 15th to October 15th every year for 20 fishing, providing many varieties of fish species, 21 including hybrid striped bass, large and small mouth 22 bass, crappie, blue gill and catfish.

23 In the months from October 15th through 24March 15th of every year, the site is closed to the 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 36 public, and provides a wildlife area for waterfowl 1 migrating through the area. IDNR works closely with 2 Exelon to provide a great recreational opportunity to 3 local resident and visitors from throughout the state 4 and even surrounding states.

5 LaSalle Lake provides good wildlife 6 habitat for the waterfowl, as mentioned before, and 7 provides good fishing and outdoor recreation for the 8community. It also provides good economic benefits, 9 visitors to the area.

10 In my time as site superintendent, Exelon 11 management has made themselves available and 12supportive in our efforts to provide site visitors 13 with access to the lake, and a rewarding experience 14while visiting the site. I thank you for the 15 opportunity to speak on behalf of LaSalle Lake fish 16 and wildlife area and the Department of Nature 17 Resources.

18MR. DRUCKER: Okay, if there's no one else 19 here or on the phone who has comments, and there 20 doesn't appear to be, I want to thank everyone who 21 provided --

22 MS. BOUDART: I have a comment.

23 MR. DRUCKER: Oh.

24 MS. BOUDART: May I make a comment?

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 37 MR. DRUCKER: Absolutely.

1 MS. BOUDART: Okay.

2MR. DRUCKER: Is it easier for me to bring 3 you the microphone there?

4MS. BOUDART: Well, if you can so I think 5I can speak loud enough. The person who spoke first, 6who are you? Either the purple shirt or the white 7 striped shirt. Anyway, let me see --

8 MR. DRUCKER: Can you tell us your name.

9MS. BOUDART: Oh yeah, my name is Jan 10 Boudart, and I'm with the Nuclear Energy Information 11 Service, and somebody, I guess I didn't get, yeah, I 12asked, Doug O'Brien, the Clean Energy Coalition. Is 13 that you?

14 Well, I was very interested in the fact 15 that you said that until our government keeps its 16 promise to take care of the high level nuclear waste, 17 it's being handled very efficiently and not being 18allowed to harm anyone. And, in fact, your statement 19 was never having produced any impact from the high 20 level nuclear waste.

21 And I think this is something that, rather 22 than say that I, well, I personally don't believe 23that, but I can't prove that it's wrong. Also, you 24 can't prove that it's right.

25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 38 Recently, the Nuclear Regulatory 1Commission decided not to conduct health studies of 2 the impacts of the power plants around the United 3States. And without those studies, you can't say that 4 there is no impact, and you cannot say that there is 5 an impact because there is no study.

6 So to come up with the statement that this 7activity of taking care of the high level nuclear 8 waste never produced any impact is a statement that is 9 not supported. If I were to say well, I know it has 10 produced an impact, that would also be an unsupported 11statement. There has been no study to find out 12 whether or not there is an impact. And I think that 13 kind of a p ositive statement really exposes the feet 14 of clay.

15MR. DRUCKER: Thank you, and I'm going to 16 ask you could just fill out a card for me, just with 17your name and e-mail address. All right, thank you 18all. Do we have any other comments from anyone on the 19 phone?20THE OPERATOR: If you would like to have 21 a comment or question, please press *1 an record your 22name when prompted. Thank you. No questions or 23 comments have come in.

24MR. DRUCKER: Okay, thank you. Thanks to 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 39 everyone who provided comments during this meeting, 1because that information exchange is what this 2 meeting's all about. Also, thanks to all of you for 3 giving the speakers your time and attention.

4 And I want to thank Connie Brooks who's 5 actually across the hallway there and Fred Moore who 6 work here for the use of LaSalle County emergency 7 operations center. And finally on the table, if you 8 want to, please pick up a meeting feedback form if you 9haven't already, and either return it to me or any 10other staff member. Feel free to mail it in. And 11 with that, this meeting is concluded.

12I'm going to stick around. If anyone had 13 any questions and wants to talk to me one-on-one, I'm 14happy to stick around and do that. So thank you all, 15 again, for coming out tonight.

16THE OPERATOR: This concludes your 17conference, and you may disconnect. Once again, your 18 conference has ended, and you may disconnect.

19 (Whereupon, at 8:00 p.m., the above-20 mentioned public hearing was concluded.)

21 22 23 24 25 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.(202) 234-4433WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701(202) 234-4433 Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONTitle:LaSalle County Station Draft Supplemental EISDocket Number:(n/a)Location:Ottawa, Illinois Date:Tuesday, March 22, 2016Work Order No.:NRC-2254Pages 1-39 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.